


Smooth Sailing

by atamascolily



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Leia Organa, Gen, Rescue Missions, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 06:41:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17278991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atamascolily/pseuds/atamascolily
Summary: Mara Jade makes it onto Jabba's sail barge the day the crime lord intends to execute Luke Skywalker and his friends. Nothing goes according to plan.





	Smooth Sailing

Something wasn't right. 

Leia eyed the red-haired human dancer in the voluminous green silks tucked away in the corner of the sail barge and wondered what she was picking up that made her so uneasy. She didn't doubt for a moment there was something off about that woman, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. 

But with a chain around her neck and a crime lord drooling over her, there wasn't much she could do about it now.

She wasn't entirely helpless, of course. She could watch. She could wait. Once they reached the damn Great Pit of Carkoon, and Luke did his Thing in the most dramatic way possible, everything would descend into chaos. _Then_ she would strike out against Jabba from the inside, according to plan. And, if necessary, she'd take that woman down if she turned out to be a problem. 

She hadn't anticipated fighting in a metal bikini, of course, and _that_ wasn't going to be fun. But she'd made the decision to throw caution to the winds and blow her cover, all for the sake of a kiss and a spectacularly dramatic gesture to impress Han, and now here she was, dressed in this ridiculous get-up. It was disgusting and humiliating to be tied up like this, and as soon as Luke gave her an opening, that fat slug was going to pay for every ogle, every grope, every innuendo. He'd regret the day he'd chosen to mess with a Princess of Alderaan, that was for sure. She'd see to that. 

(It was just as well Han couldn't see her like this. She'd never be able to live it down. Hopefully, he wouldn't recover his sight until _after_ she'd found something more presentable to change into.) 

But there was that dancer in the corner, with her eager-to-please manner and piercing gaze, taking a break after her recent performance. Leia watched the woman in her peripheral vision, dodging Jabba's groping hands with a disgusted shrug she made no pretense of hiding. Let the Hutt think her cowering. Leia knew better. 

And then she saw it. 

Unlike every other being on the barge--from the lowliest cleaning droid to the legions of Weequay guards to the other entertainers and "working girls"--only the barest sliver of red-haired dancer's attention was directed at Jabba. Like Leia, this woman was laser-focused on the window, staring at the prison skiff where Luke, Han, Chewie, and Lando were being driven to their supposed doom. As if she knew where the action was. As if she knew something that the rest of them didn't. 

And _that_ wasn't supposed to happen. 

Leia's first guess was some kind of covert bodyguard for Jabba. The Hutt might well have a Mistryl Shadow Guard or two to keep his enemies in line, or at least give them something to think about. But no bodyguard would ignore their employer so thoroughly, without even a glance now and then in their direction.

Certainly, Luke and Han were attractive, but the dancer didn't strike her as the lovesick type. She _looked_ sweet and harmless and vapid--until you recognized the look in her eyes. Leia had played that part a million times as a junior member of the Imperial Senate, and she knew weaponized innocence when she saw it. 

It didn't bode well, if the woman knew about Luke's plan to get them all safely out of here--or worse, tried to stop them. But the dancer hadn't said or done anything thus far to draw attention to herself. That was puzzling, too. Nor did the Hutt seem worried about the forthcoming execution, consuming huge platters of food and alcohol in his anticipation. 

Leia didn't know what she would do if Jabba got wind of their plot. Probably something revolting to distract him, she decided with a sigh. With any luck, it wouldn't come to that. As long as Artoo was able to get the lightsaber to Luke in time-- 

_This was such a stupid idea_ , she thought, shaking her head. Why had she let Luke talk her into this? There were so many ways in which this whole business could go spectacularly wrong--

She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, counting to ten in High Alderaani--a dead language even before the Empire had destroyed the planet--in her mind to calm herself. Like a game of dejarik, the board was set, the pieces were moving, and the trap was almost sprung. There was nothing to do now but wait and trust that Luke knew what he was doing, that he could deliver what he'd promised in the aftermath of Cloud City, in those dark days after Han's imprisonment in carbonite.

As they reached the Great Pit of Carkoon, the sail barge gracefully shuddered to a halt. Leia couldn't hide a twitch as the dancer in the corner rose to her feet and sauntered off with a casual sway of her hips, as if she were heading for the 'fresher. 

Leia wanted to shout at the woman--anything, really, to make her stop--but there wasn't much she could do tied to Jabba, and the crime lord far too heavy to drag along with her. And drawing attention to the dancer might spectacularly backfire if the woman _did_ know about their plan after all. 

Better not to risk it, she decided, though she didn't like it. Didn't like it at all. 

Her stomach tightened. She had a bad feeling about this. 

***

Mara Jade threaded her way up to the top of the sail barge, her pace casual and slow, as if she were taking a casual stroll for a bit of fresh air. The intensity of the desert sun was painful with so little clothing, but the vast canopy stretched over the top of the craft provided much-needed shade. Below her, the prison skiff veered into position over the edge of the Sarlacc pit. 

It was too easy. All of it, too easy.

It had been touch and go back in the palace, after she'd failed to kill Skywalker the first time. Jabba had dropped him into the rancor pit before she could make her move, and there had been too many guards in the dungeons to dispatch him afterwards. So she'd been forced to slip aboard the sail barge with the other entertainers and blend in with the crowd. She wasn't sure if Jabba had noticed her presence, but he hadn't called her out or ordered her dead, and that was all that mattered. 

It was almost comical to see Leia Organa trussed up in that ridiculous costume, chained to that fat slug like a pleasure toy, but it wouldn't end well. Mara didn't like the woman, but Jabba had better watch his back. Organa might look delicate and weak, but she had stared Darth Vader down once. There weren't many beings in the galaxy with the strength to defy her master's lieutenant and survive. 

Though Organa was a linchpin in the Rebellion, she wasn't Mara's quarry on this mission. That was Skywalker, and one way or another, he was going to die today. The rancor hadn't been able to do the job, and she doubted the Sarlacc would do better. Jabba was sloppy and careless and unprepared to handle a prisoner of Skywalker's caliber. Fortunately for the crime lord (if not Skywalker), Mara was here to make up for it. 

Skywalker was a Jedi, the enemy of her master and the Empire he had created to serve him. The Emperor had ordered his death, and Mara--his most trusted and devoted servant, his secret Hand that dispensed Imperial justice in its most direct form--was to carry it out. Skywalker was clever and brave, with a knack for defying impossible odds--but not anymore. Mara would make sure of it. 

Skywalker was the son of that traitor Darth Vader. Killing him would not only nip that pesky problem in the bud, it would be fitting punishment for Vader's perfidy. And the best part was, if Skywalker died here on Tatooine, Jabba would take the blame. Even if Vader suspected the Emperor's involvement, there would be no proof. 

Skywalker was a cunning bastard, she'd give him that much. He'd maneuvered himself and all his friends into Jabba's clutches very neatly. Too neatly. He was planning something--and she suspected she knew what it was.

In the holo message he'd sent his astromech to deliver, he'd worn a lightsaber. He hadn't brought it with him in the palace. Solo, Wookiee, Leia Organa, chained to Jabba, didn't have it, nor did the prissy protocol droid that had accompanied the astromech. 

That left the one place that Jabba would never look, because neither he nor his retainers had the slightest bit of imagination: the astromech droid itself. 

Which was, even now, emerging onto the deck of the sail barge a dozen meters away from her. 

Mara couldn't help but smile. She'd been right. The droid was the key. And now--

Jabba and the prisoners were having a stupid, ego-driven back-and-forth mediated through the aforementioned protocol droid. Jabba wanted them to grovel, and they wouldn't oblige him. Skywalker made a high-handed demand for the crime lord to "free us or die," and the Hutt laughed. 

Of course Skywalker wasn't joking. If not for Mara, there'd be nothing to stop Skywalker from carrying out his promise. Not that Jabba would ever appreciate that, of course. 

One of the Weequay guards nudged Skywalker onto the plank with his pikestaff. As Skywalker stepped forward, he lifted two fingers to his forehead in a salute--

On cue, the astromech flung Skywalker's lightsaber into the air towards its master--

\--only for Mara to reach out with the Force and catch it first. 

*** 

As Luke stepped off the platform towards the Sarlacc pit, he twisted around, grabbing the edge of the board and using it as a spring to flip himself back onto the skiff. He'd done this same movement a million times on Dagobah as part of Yoda's training, always wondering when it would prove useful, and now he had an answer. He landed lightly on his feet and turned towards the barge, hand extended for the lightsaber hurtling towards him-- 

\--only for it to pause in mid-air and reverse direction, back to the top of Jabba's barge. Luke tugged at it with the Force, but it was as if it was stuck in a tractor beam and didn't budge, no matter how he shifted it. 

The lightsaber fell into the waiting hand of a shadowy female figure, silhouetted against the twin suns, who raised it over her head in triumph. 

Luke stared at her in horror. 

This was _not_ part of the plan. 

*** 

Time slowed. The Weequay guard behind him was reaching for his blaster, but Luke was attuned to the Force so strongly that the movement played out in slow motion, giving him plenty of time to think. He stared at the woman who had stolen his lightsaber--and with it, his hope of an easy escape--and let what he had just witnessed riccochet through his mind in hopes of forming a solution. 

The Force. 

She had used the Force against him. 

That was impossible. The Jedi were dead, and Vader and the Emperor were far away. But there was no denying what had happened, and he would have to deal with the consequences. 

He wasn't sure what she looked like, but it didn't matter. Two things were perfectly clear: she could use the Force, and she wasn't a friend. 

_Jabba_ , he thought automatically, but that wasn't right - she wasn't one of Jabba's people, it was all wrong for that. Jabba didn't believe in the power of the Force, though himself invincible to its effects. Jabba wouldn't have a Force user on hand to trap Luke--

But Darth Vader might. 

Even as he said it, he didn't believe it. No. Vader wanted Luke, sought him desperately--but not like this. Not like this. Vader didn't want him _dead_ , after all. Vader was his _father_ \--

And that left only one possible option. 

An agent of the Emperor. Sent to kill him--either because he was the famous Rebel operative who had destroyed the Death Star four years ago, or (more likely) because Vader's offer to depose the Emperor and rule the galaxy with Luke at his side had gotten back to Vader's erstwhile master...

_Of all the possible times for an assassination attempt--_

This wasn't good. Especially since his friends' lives were on the line here. If he screwed this up, they might _all_ die out here--

He wasn't going to let her get away with this. He _couldn't_ let her get away with this. 

Time speeded back up as he burst into action. 

***

The look on Skywalker's face was priceless, but Mara didn't have much time to enjoy it. Skywalker set about knocking down the Weequay guards on his skiff with gusto while a turncoat human guard set the Wookiee free and Solo flailed about in blind confusion. It wasn't long before the four of them had control of their skiff, and Skywalker turned his attention back to the sail barge, clearly scanning for her. 

The second skiff was firing at them, but Skywalker was unfazed. Even as he took a flying leap over the Sarlacc pitt towards them, Mara heard the sound of thrusters firing up and looked up in time to see the bounty hunter Boba Fett launch himself off the sail barge and join the fray--

She didn't have a chance to see how Skywalker managed to extricate himself from that one. Even as Fett flew towards Skywalker on a collision course, her danger sense screamed in warning. She turned to find Skywalker's astromech barrelling towards her, its electric arc welder extended as it charged. 

Careful not to drop the lightsaber, she reached into her sleeve with her free hand for the carefully concealed hold-out blaster she'd managed to smuggle aboard. She shot the droid three times with the stun setting, enough to make it short-circuit. With an electronic squeal, the droid crackled, sparked, and fell over with a thud. 

By the time Mara turned back to the battle, Skywalker was nowhere to be seen. But judging from the shouts and screams below her, he wasn't dead yet. 

***

Leia knew at once that something was horribly wrong. Artoo had released Luke's lightsaber as planned--only to boomerang back at the last instant towards the sail barge, to the astonishment of everyone. 

Jabba laughed, a deep booming sound that never failed to make Leia's skin crawl. "Ho, ho, ho. The Jedi is not as powerful as he thinks he is, hmmm?" He gestured a wormy finger to the guards. "Kill them all. Don't let them escape." 

"No!" Leia shouted in dismay, but the guards were already running for the door. 

It wasn't all bad, of course. She was more or less alone with Jabba now, which meant no one would interfere with her once she got moving. She had to act quickly while the Hutt was still distracted if she wanted to salvage this debacle. 

_This is some rescue_ , she thought, recalling her first meeting with this motley crew four years earlier on the Death Star. _Leave it to the men to get us into this--and *me* to get us out of it. Some things never change--_

Jabba was so stupid. He'd stripped her practically naked and taken away her weapons, but he'd been sloppy and had to go with the dramatic gesture of keeping her on a chain. No Imperial prison would have done it. They knew better. But Jabba was arrogant, always looking for a show, Lando had said. And Jabba's overconfidence meant gaps that they could use to their advantage. 

Chains were instruments of imprisonment, yes--but they could also be the tools to her freedom.

_Time to start a little mayhem of my own._

She looped one end of the chain in her fist and used it to smash the the glow-lamps on the dais, plunging the room into darkness and adding to the chaos. 

*** 

Luke dodged the armored humanoid hurtling towards him, and the ropes from his opponent's wrist-strap fell short as the man landed on the skiff where Luke had stood a few seconds before. Luke himself landed on squarely on the other skiff, pushing two more guards over the edge and into the abyss. The two remaining fighters stopped firing the guns at Han and the others to engage him as he charged. 

Even without his lightsaber, he was fast enough to dodge their blows. They slammed into each other instead, rolling off the edge as they tried to scramble to their feet. 

The armored humanoid had given up on Luke for the moment in favor of Han and Chewie and Lando. Hopefully, the three of them could handle this; Luke had more important things to deal with at the moment. He had to get his lightsaber back--

He leapt for the sail barge, slamming into one of the closed windows instead of the upper level where the woman had been. He slid down the smooth sloped panels, scrabbling desperately for anything to slow his fall, before he caught himself on the lower edge. _Please_ , he thought, _don't let me die here now._

As if on cue, the window next to him opened, and a Weequay guard leaned out, brandishing a blaster. But Luke was ready, and yanked hard on the guard's shoulder, pulling him off-balance and into the air. Even as the guard flailed and screamed, it was too late. Luke threw himself into the sail barge in a darkened hallway, his senses roiling as he sought out his quarry. 

The woman. She was on the upper level. He had to get up there--and _fast_. 

***

Jabba didn't die quickly. Once the chain was wrapped around his neck, Leia had to pull with all her strength for several minutes before he passed out. She was lucky that no one saw her in the smoke and chaos and there were too many shouts and explosions for anyone to hear the crime lord's choking sobs as she strangled him. 

Leia had never killed anyone with her bare hands before, but it was surprisingly satisfying. Given the Hutt's lewd intimations of what he wanted to do with her body, it was poetic justice that she'd gotten to him first. _If I had known this would be what it took to get Han out of his debts, I would have done this long ago and saved us all the trouble,_ she thought as she searched for a way to undo the collar round her neck. 

There wasn't one. In the end, she was forced to pry the other end of the chain out of Jabba's cold flabby fingers and hold it in her hands like the weapon it was--at least until she could find a better one. 

In the heat of battle, no one paid her the slightest bit of attention as she fled the scene. She was priding herself on a job well done, when she stumbled across the prone body of Threepio in the corner. 

"My eyes! My eyes!" the protocol screamed, as Jabba's nasty Kowakian monkey-lizard slashed at his face, ripping out one of the glowing sockets in the process. "Not my eyes, you monster--" 

Leia hit the creature with her chain. With an angry squeal, it abandoned its prey and clung to the ceiling, chittering wildly at her. 

"Come on," Leia said, helping the droid to its feet. "We gotta go."

"But Princess Leia--" 

She was in no mood for arguments. " _Now!_ " 

***

There was no question who Luke's enemy was. She had long red-gold hair tied up in a complicated braid, costumed as a dancer in emerald green silks that matched her eyes and hid absolutely nothing. She balanced his lightsaber with practiced ease in one hand, a hold-out blaster squarely in the other, with Artoo collapsed in an electronic coma at her feet. A wicked grin split across her face at the sight of him, and she raised the blaster and fired four shots in a rippling, spreading pattern in his direction without the slightest hesitation. 

It was technically possible to block a blaster bolt bare-handed with the Force, but in this case, it was easier to avoid them. He dodged and rolled, missing the first two, but the third one hit his right electronic right hand, which fizzled and short-circuited even as he cried out from the pain of it. He barely managed to miss the fourth shot, but it was a near thing. 

He rose to his feet, clutching at his damaged hand. She'd paralyzed his right hand just as she'd paralyzed Artoo, and now he was down a weapon _and_ a limb. That was bad, but he could make this work, he could get out of this, he just needed a little more _time_ \--

"Why are you doing this?" he shouted at her. She didn't bother to answer, only locked the blaster onto his new position as she prepared to fire--

***

_You will kill Luke Skywalker_. Her master's voice boomed in her head as the Jedi strode towards her, every syllable enunciated with perfect clarity. _You will kill Luke Skywalker. You will kill Luke Skywalker--Luke Skywalker--Luke Skywalker--_

"Why are you doing this?" Skywalker shouted at her, but if he didn't know, it wasn't her business to tell him. She didn't believe in gloating over her enemies (not until _after_ they were dead, at least) and she wasn't going to fall for any of his charms, any of his tricks. He was obviously trying to stall for time, and she wasn't going to give it to him.

_You will kill Luke Skywalker--_

That was her last thought before something hard and heavy slammed into the back of her skull, knocking her to her knees. 

***

Even as the red-haired dancer crumbled, Luke was ready. The lightsaber zoomed out of her left hand and into his as the last surviving princess of Alderaan hit her again with her chains. With a snarl of pain, the woman twisted and raised her blaster squarely at Leia, but Luke barrelled towards her just in time to slam her to the ground, his lightsaber at her throat. 

"Surrender!" he shouted, unwilling to kill her, but hoping she wouldn't pick up on that. 

She hissed a curse and spat at him, but dropped her blaster. Leia took it and prepared to fire. 

"Stun her," Luke ordered. 

"What--" Leia started in surprise. 

" _Do it!_ " 

The woman fell unconscious to the floor. A new influx of Jabba's guards entered the fray, trailed a few moments later by an extremely bewildered Threepio. 

_It was a good thing I practiced using a saber with my left hand_ , Luke thought grimly as he carved his way one-handed through the fray. _Or I really would be dead today--_

Meanwhile, Leia was scrambling over over to the massive ground laser cannon mounted on the upper edge of the barge to do just that."Get the gun! Point it at the deck!" Luke shouted unnecessarily, as she did just that. 

The explosions rocked the barge. A rumbling grew from beneath as the repulsorlift engine caught fire. 

"Master Luke, are you certain that's a good idea--" Threepio cried out in panic. "You'll kill us all--" 

By way of reply, Luke rolled the prone body of Artoo-Detoo towards him, knocking the protocol droid off-balance and sending both droids flying over the edge. Only then did he turn to the unconscious woman on the ground and sling her over his shoulder, supporting her prone body with his paralyzed right hand. 

Leia stared at him. "Are you _serious--_ " 

There was no time to argue. "Come _on_!" 

He cut a cable free and stowed his lightsaber, catching it with his left hand as Leia ran over to him and wrapped her arms him. It was cumbersome with the three of them all jammed together, and rather distracting given all the exposed flesh, but he had to concentrate fully on the Force or else they'd never get out of here alive. He pushed off towards the skiff that Chewie and Lando piloted, hoping and praying they'd make it out in time before the barge exploded, and let go of the cable. For a single, heart-stopping moment, they hung suspended in the air--

\--and then with a solid thud, all three of them slammed into the deck of the skiff, as Chewie howled in triumph. 

"Don't forget to grab the droids," Luke said, as he got to his feet, pointing to where Artoo and Threepio were visible in the distance. 

Chewbacca roared an acknowledgement and steered the skiff in that direction for a pick-up.

"Who is this woman?" Lando said, staring at the red-haired woman with stunned disbelief. "One of the dancers...?" 

"Long story," Luke said, as the maglift hummed and pulled Artoo and Threepio up out of the sand. "Chewie, hand me those spare cuffs, please." 

Chewbacca growled he was busy and Lando should take care of it. 

"Fine, fine," Lando said, pulling out the cuffs that had recently corralled the Wookiee and putting them on the woman's limp wrists. 

"What's going on?" Han asked, still in a daze. "Guys, I still can't see _anything_ \--" 

"I'll explain later," Luke promised. "She's an agent of the Emperor, she can use the Force, I couldn't let her die back there--" 

"WHAT?" 

"--and we'll figure it out," Luke finished, as Leia shook her head ruefully at him. 

"I hope you know what you're doing, kid," Han said at last. 

"So do I, Han," Luke said, staring at the unconscious woman at his feet. He wondered if the cuffs would be enough to hold her when she awoke, and what he would do if they weren't. "So do I."

**Author's Note:**

> After re-watching _Return of the Jedi_ for the millionth time, I have no idea why Timothy Zahn thinks that Luke would be so easily defeated by Mara capturing his lightsaber. Then I started to think about what might have _actually_ happened should she have made it aboard the sail barge ... and this is the result. Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
